


i'll follow you

by merrymegtargaryen



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 07:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4129593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrymegtargaryen/pseuds/merrymegtargaryen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles set in a fix-it canon verse where Nux and Angharad are alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

No matter how many blankets she wrapped him in or how many times she lay beside him, rubbing his arms and his back to warm him up, he still wouldn’t stop shivering. It was normal, he insisted. It happened all the time.

It still broke Capable’s heart. She tried to stay calm around him, stroking his face and murmuring soft words of comfort–but as soon as he fell asleep the tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Even with the treatment, he only had a few years left. The Vuvalini guessed ten, if he was lucky. It was better than the “any day now” he’d been living with before, but in ten years they’d only be thirty. Capable’s life wouldn’t even be halfway over. 

“Hey,” she heard, and she blinked through her tears to see Nux smiling weakly at her.

She wiped furiously at her tears. “Hey,” she said in a cracked voice, forcing a big smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than you, it looks like,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

She opened her mouth to say “nothing” and instead said, “I hate seeing you like this.”

He smiled and brushed a tear off her face. “It’s not so bad, really.” When she didn’t look like she believed him, he went on, “I guess it doesn’t help that I literally look like a corpse, but I mean…”

Capable gave him a watery smile.

“Aw, come here.” Even though it was Nux who was shaking and sick with night fevers, he was the one who ended up holding Capable and telling her it would be all right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thelastlivingdragon asked: Can you please write me a fanfic about one of the wives finding Nux inside of the watch inside of the war rig and capable begging them not to tell furiosa ?

Capable had been lying with the War Boy for what felt like hours when Cheedo came to get her.

“Capable–” the youngest girl said, and stopped short when she saw him. “You!”

“It’s all right, Cheedo,” Capable said quickly, sitting up and getting ready to run if she needed to. “He’s not gonna hurt us.”

Cheedo stared at Nux, her face twisted in shock. “We pushed him out of the rig. How did he get back on?”

“Rictus threw me,” Nux said miserably. “The Immortan sent me to finish off Furiosa. I couldn’t do it.”

Cheedo pursed her lips and looked between the two.

“He’s scared and upset, just like us,” Capable said, moving closer to her sister. “He just needs a place to stay.” She put a hand on Cheedo’s shoulder. “Please don’t tell the others. Especially Furiosa.”

Cheedo hesitated. “Okay…but if something goes wrong…”

“It won’t.”

Cheedo glanced once more at Nux before picking her way back across the rig.

“I’ll be back later,” Capable promised before following her sister.

Nux curled up. “Later” couldn’t come soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thestarkinthesweater asked: Prompt: fix-it fic with babies

None of the Five Wives were in any way blood related–that did not stop them, however, from calling each other “sister”. They were closer than most real sisters; they did everything together, shared everything and held back nothing. 

Angharad and the Dag were the only two who had given birth, but those children belonged just as much to Capable and Toast and Cheedo as they did to their birth mothers. 

“Is this what the Green Place was like?” Nux had once asked the Vuvalini–or what was left of them. “The Land of Many Mothers?”

“It’s starting to look that way,” they’d said. Nux liked the thought of another Green Place. He liked thinking that Angharad’s boy would grow up with mothers who had been to hell and back to keep him safe, mothers who would love him and guide him to be everything his father could not be. He liked thinking that Dag’s girl would grow up hearing she was a person and not a thing.

Most of all (though he’d never admit it to anyone), he liked thinking of Capable as a mother. Mothers were still a relatively new concept to Nux. He’d had one, once, before Immortan Joe had claimed him for one of his War Boys. Nux didn’t remember what she looked like or even what she really sounded like, but she had been gentle and kind and she had made Nux happy. Capable was gentle and kind and made Nux happy, and even if she wasn’t really a mother, he liked thinking that she could be one.

“You’re a good mother,” he told her one day when they had Angharad’s little boy, Max. They were sprawled on their bed, content to spend the hazy afternoon cuddling and occasionally playing with the toddler. 

“You think so?” She reached up to keep Max from tumbling off the bed and settled in against Nux. 

“I really do.”

They were quiet for a long moment, watching Max amuse himself with his toys.

“You’re not such a bad father, you know,” she said suddenly.

Nux was taken aback. “I’m not a father, though.”

He could feel her lips pulling into a smile against his chest. “No,” she agreed. “But you will be.”

He twisted to look into her face. “You…?”

Capable took his hand and pressed it against her belly. “Angharad and Dag knew before I did. They said I’m almost two months along, and, well, they would know.”

They would, Nux agreed. He could hardly believe that a child, his child, was inside Capable now. That her belly would swell up like Angharad’s and Dag’s had and in a few months there would be a new baby. His baby, and Capable’s. But not just theirs–Angharad’s and Dag’s and Cheedo’s and Toast’s baby, too. He liked thinking of that–liked thinking that his child would have so many mothers. 

“Nux? Are you okay?” Capable asked.

He kissed her in reply. “I’ve never been better.” He held her tight against him. “What a day. What a lovely day.”


	4. Chapter 4

Nux didn’t want to be biased or anything, but he was pretty sure Capable was the strongest of the remaining four wives.

At first glance, anyone would say that Toast was the strong one, but she was a loner at heart. She was good at detaching herself from other people’s problems.

Capable carried everyone’s burdens. Her sisters, him, Furiosa, the War Boys, the War Pups, the Wretched. She was so patient with the War Boys and War Pups, helping them unlearn the Immortan’s teachings. When she wasn’t with them, she was sitting with the Wretched in the medical bay or checking inventories or watching Dag’s little girl, Angharad, while the Dag took an hour or two to herself. And at the end of every day, she curled up in Nux’s arms and asked him about his day, asked him questions and responded in kind and always made him feel like she really, genuinely cared about everything he had to say, no matter how physically and mentally and emotionally exhausted she was. She was strong like that.

So when she took ill with night fevers, Nux worried. The fever made her weak, and suddenly the strong woman who carried the weight on her shoulders and still held her head high was reduced to a trembling, pale thing who couldn’t hold down her food or even sit up without help.

Nux stayed with her all the time. “It’ll pass,” the medical staff told him, but he didn’t believe them.

“I promised to take care of you,” he said, anguished.

“You are taking care of me,” she murmured, stroking his head. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

He shook his head. “I’m the one who got you sick.”

“No, you didn’t.”

He hated himself. “I’m so sick, all the War Boys are…I’ve touched you too much, you got sick from me…”

“That’s not true.” She shifted. “A family in the medical bay came down with fever, I got it from them. Not from you.” When he still looked hesitant, she continued, “I was never sick when I was Joe’s wife, and you know how sick he was. It’s not you, Nux. It doesn’t work like that.”

He wanted to believe her, but there was still a part of him that blamed himself for the state she was in. “I should have looked out for you, made sure you weren’t pushing yourself–”

“You look out for me just fine,” she said with a tired smile. “You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do and I like that. If you started telling me to stop doing things I would be hurt.”

He’d never thought of it like that before. “I feel like I could have done more. Like I still could.”

“You do enough,” she whispered, stroking his head again. “Nux, you are enough. Don’t you know that?”

He blushed the way he always did when she said things like this. You are enough, you matter. You are worth something.

“Give me something to do for you,” he begged. “Please.”

She considered for a moment. “Distract me,” she said finally. “Tell me about your day. How’s your new rig coming?”

So he told her, holding her hand in both of his as he talked for hours and hours and she nodded and smiled as if she wanted nothing more than to hear his voice. Maybe she did. Maybe she knew how badly he needed to feel useful. Capable was strong like that.


	5. Chapter 5

Nux was just outside of the room Furiosa and Toast had made their temporary office/conference room, about to deliver the latest inventory of the garage, when Toast said something that stopped him dead in his tracks.

“…so we’ll have to push it to the third…”

“The third? That’s Capable’s birthday.”

Nux froze.

“Oh. Well, she won’t mind, will she?”

“Of course not.”

Nux entered then and gave them the inventory as if he hadn’t overheard them, but the bit of conversation he’d overheard niggled at the back of his head. He hadn’t even thought about Capable’s birthday in the chaos that had followed Immortan Joe’s death. It had only been seven weeks–too early to be thinking about frivolities like birthdays. Capable herself probably wasn’t even thinking about her birthday. And that, Nux decided, is what would make it so special. What with all the rebuilding and restructuring going on in the Citadel, Capable would never expect him to not only know her birthday but help her celebrate.

He got to work immediately, spending the moments he could spare in the garage. It probably wasn’t the best present she’d ever received, but it was the best Nux could do. 

He didn’t say anything to her all day the third, didn’t once acknowledge he knew that it was her birthday. Capable didn’t seem to care; she treated today like any other day. He waited until dinner time to make his move.

”I’m not feeling well,” he lied. “I think I’ll just have a lie-down.”

”You sure?” she asked, concerned.

“I’m sure–just a headache.” When she looked hesitant, he kissed the top of her head. “Go on without me, I just need a rest.”

”Okay…I’ll bring you some dinner,” she said. He waited until she was out of the room before leaping into action.

When Capable came back less than an hour later bearing a bowl of grub, she froze in her tracks. “What…?”

”Happy Birthday!” Nux shouted as excitably as any child.

”What is this?” she asked, setting the bowl down so she could properly gape.

”It’s the stars,” he said, quite proud of himself. “Remember that night with the Vuvalini, and we stayed in the cab and looked at the stars?”

”Of course I remember,” she murmured.

Encouraged, he continued, “Well, that was the first time that I really and properly felt like there was…like there was something bigger out there. Bigger than you or me or the Immortan or Valhalla. And you said…you said that even though it was so big and we were so small, it made you feel better somehow. Quiet, like, at peace.” He gestured lamely to the shining pieces of metal he’d stuck to the walls. “So, I brought stars into our room. So you’d always feel, you know. At peace.” He was beginning to feel that maybe this was a very stupid idea when she broke into a smile.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, throwing her arms around him and kissing him. “But how did you know it was my birthday?”

”I overheard Toast say something about it,” he admitted.

She smiled again. “You’re full of surprises, Nux. You’re–what do you say? Very chrome.”

Nux had never been more pleased in his entire life.


	6. Chapter 6

When Max leaves, Furiosa and the wives all expect that that’s the last they’ll ever see of him.

“There’s nothing for him here,” Furiosa says, calm but sad.

It’s only a few days later that the car he’d taken (”We owe him that much, at least,” Furiosa had said) comes roaring back to the Citadel. It’s Max–and Angharad, and Nux. They’re both banged up so badly that they’re almost unrecognizable–but Capable would recognize them anywhere.

They get them both to the medical bay teeming with the Wretched who are finally allowed into the Citadel. Their wounds will take a long time to heal and there’s a real danger neither of them will make it.

“They made it this far,” Toast says reassuringly. “They won’t give up now.”

Capable wants to believe it. She sits by their beds for hours and holds their hands well into the night when everyone else goes to sleep. “Get some rest,” Furiosa tells her, but Capable can’t leave them. Not now.

Nux is the first to wake up. She‘s dropped her head onto his bed and drifted to sleep in her chair, but she wakes up when she feels his hand on her head. “Nux,” she breathes, unable to believe it.

His lips, cracked and dry from being dehydrated in the desert, pull into a smile. “I could get used to waking up like this,” he rasps.

Capable shakes the sleep from her and pours him some water. “Here,” she says, tipping it into his mouth.

He drinks greedily, the water dribbling over his lips and chin and spilling onto his chest. When he finishes, she puts the cup back on the bedside table and takes his hand in hers. “I almost lost you,” she says, her voice cracking.

“I said I’d follow,” he says, sounding far too sure of himself. “Didn’t you believe me?”

“You told me to witness,” she reminds him. “I saw the wreck.”

“I thought I was going to die myself,” he admits. “But when the crash didn’t kill me…well, I couldn’t have given up then, could I?”

She leans forward and brushes her lips against his. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

He smiles at her. “Not on your life.”


	7. Chapter 7

Capable was very quiet. She hadn’t said much when they went to bed last night, and they’d lain awake for a long time before sleep finally claimed him. She was already awake when he woke up this morning, her back to him and her face to the wall.

“Morning,” he murmured, kissing her shoulder.

She didn’t move.

Nux scooted away. He always tried to be gentle with Capable, but sometimes she got scared and was afraid for anyone to touch her. He understood that–she’d only told him pieces of the horrors she’d faced with Immortan Joe, but it was enough to let Nux know that sometimes trying to get close to her would only make it worse.

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked, maintaining a respectful distance.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. “Just…tired.”

He knew that she wasn’t telling the truth, but he also decided not to pressure her into saying anything she didn’t want to say. If she wanted him to know, she would tell him. “Okay,” he said. “I’m going to get breakfast–do you want me to bring you something?”

She shook her head. Nux pulled on his pants and was about to head out the door (there were a lot of habits that were hard to break, and forgoing a shirt was one of them. Capable never complained) when she sat up suddenly. “Please don’t leave,” she said, looking at him with wide eyes.

Nux turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

She patted the space beside her. “Come here. Please.”

Nux obeyed, edging onto the bed. Capable pulled him until he was sitting fully on the bed and then curled up in his lap.

“Hey, what is it?” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her.

She took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

He froze. “You’re…”

“Pregnant. About two months along.” She took another deep breath. “I found out yesterday. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Nux swallowed. “And you…you want…what do you want?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “When I was a breeder, I was so afraid of having children. I never wanted to be a, a machine for Joe to use. And I was terrified of my children growing up to be warlords and…and whatever else.” Her voice caught. “But having a baby now…I feel like it could work.”

He shifted so that he could look her in the eye. “You want this baby?”

She looked up at him, her face blank, before nodding. “Yeah. I do.”

A smile broke over Nux’s face. “A baby.”

Capable smiled back. “A baby.” She took his hand and placed it over her belly.

“So chrome,” Nux murmured. Capable laughed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> queervampires asked: “Please, don’t leave.” nuxable

The last streaks of day are glimmering in the sky when she finally moves. It’s getting darker by the minute, and someone might come looking for her soon. She eases her arms out of the tangle of limbs she’s made with the War Boy and wriggles back, ready to get to her feet.

“Where are you going?” he asks, sitting up.

“I’ve been gone a long time,” she explains. It’s colder up here with the night wind whipping around her–it was lovely and warm down with Nux in the floor of the cab. “Someone might come looking for me.”

He looks afraid.

“I won’t tell them you’re here,” she offers. “It’ll be our secret.”

He still doesn’t look satisfied. “Please,” he says. “Please, don’t leave.” He looks like a child staring up at her with wide, earnest eyes. He is a child, she has to remind herself. 

“Everything will be all right,” she tells him, stroking his cheek. “We made a deal–no unnecessary killing. Furiosa won’t hurt you. I won’t let her. We’ll be in the Green Place soon.”

“Please don’t leave,” he says again.

Capable hesitates. “Only for a little bit,” she relents. “But then I have to go.”

He slumps, relieved, against the wall of the cab. Capable curls up next to him and wraps her arms around his torso, resting her cheek against his chest. Even over the steady rumble of the war rig, she can feel his heart beating fast.

“Thank you,” he whispers against her hair, his arms wrapping around her. She feels…safe. It’s a feeling she could get used to.


End file.
